wort tonight, can tomorrow ?

[bobjohnson]

For saving wort for canning, for eventual use in a starter, :

This is OK right?


Collect the wort tonight from the left over mash (adjust with extract if necessary to get 1.04).

Put wort in mason jars with lids attached

Put jars in fridge

pull jars out tomorrow AM and let warm up to room temp

Begin canning process tomorrow AM sometime.


Question is, does waiting until tomorrow leave any chance for something bad to happen to the jars of wort, even though they are in a fridge and even though they will be canned using a pressure cooker?

[Mills]

I doubt that your bacterial load will be big enough to give an off flavor to your starter wort. Plus the canning will sterilize the wort anyhow. Go for it man!

[sean.michaleen]

Your only worry would be that any bacterial contamination of the wort would have a noticeable effect on the flavor before you can it. At warmer temperatures, the lacto from the malts will definitely have an impact on flavor (like making a sour mash). I'd venture a guess that you won't have a noticeable amount of bacteria activity in the 12-18 hours at fridge temperatures. Obviously, once you put it in a pressure canner, the wort will be sterilized and any bacteria will be killed.

If you want to give yourself extra protection, boil the leftover wort on the stove and put it into sanitized mason jars rather than just going straight from the mashtun into the mason jars. That will eliminate a lot of the lacto worries.

Taste the wort the next morning prior to canning. If it's clean enough for you, go for it!